I will be crowned king

"Such intensive and non-stop shelling... Clovis Southern Army is really a luxury."

On the position of the Guards Corps, looking at the sparks that heralded death that continued to explode in the center of the battlefield, Louis Bernard couldn't help but sigh.

The dull roar of artillery continued to explode over Eagle Point City, and even the gravel under his feet was shaking, as if the entire earth was shaking; billowing black smoke obscured the entire battlefield, causing the earth to spread out in advance as evening approached. Night.

The slowly advancing line of the Guards Corps was struggling under this almost continuous bombardment; the crossfire formed by Eagle Point City and the surrounding artillery positions almost perfectly covered the entire battlefield; the four large-caliber guns in the fortress The mortars kept firing shrapnel shells without any blind spots. Every time the gray "smoke" exploded in the air, it meant the casualties of at least a dozen or even dozens of soldiers.

Although the actual damage caused was not large, such ferocious artillery fire seriously interrupted Louis Bernard's offensive rhythm; the third column, which was originally expected to enter the battle ten minutes ago at the latest, was destroyed by the artillery fire. The horizontal line has just been launched.

If this continues, it may be difficult to quickly defeat the first line of defense of the Southern Army as planned.

Holding the handle of the knife in his right hand tightly, Louis Bernard tried his best to restrain his inner anxiety, but at the same time, more doubts could not help but arise in his heart.

As far as he knew, this southern army should be Clovis's newly established army, and the core main force should be the first levy army of Thunder Castle that he had met at Thunder Castle; this was enough to prove the strength of Clovis's troops who were confronting the empire on the Western Front. It was already stretched thin, to the point where it was impossible to organize a war without raising large numbers of levied troops.

So... where did they get all those shells?

The Clovis army, which is mainly infantry, even the main standing army usually follows the standard of one artillery per thousand people. Even the full army of 40,000 people has at most five artillery companies and forty to fifty artillery pieces. That’s all.

But the Southern Army Corps in front of him... the number of artillery pieces he had seen was definitely more than forty!

This was not the only thing that confused him - according to the information he had, the strength of the Southern Army should be no less than 30,000, but what Louis had seen so far was only about 10,000 at most.

To a certain extent, this was one of the reasons why he was extremely cautious at the beginning, constantly testing but never willing to launch a general attack; facing a solid fortress full of legions stationed, Louis, who also had only one legion, could not hope for a decisive battle no matter how much he desired it. Don't dare to risk the lives of 40,000 Yser elves.

Considering the complex terrain around Eagle Point City, Louis always thought that this might be a trap set by Ludwig or Anson to induce him to besiege the fortress. When he completely relaxed his vigilance, the ambush troops hiding in the north and south sides would take the opportunity to attack from behind. .

But judging from the intelligence sent back by the scouts, I am afraid that I really have overthought it - there is no trace of a large-scale legion north of Eagle Point City, only the supply line of the Clovis people.

And the pass south of Eagle Point City is still firmly in the hands of the Thun army... If there really is such an army, can they still turn a blind eye?

Think about it and you know it’s impossible!

Therefore, it is true that launching the attack at this time is hasty. It is approaching evening and he has a window of less than three hours. He must end the attack as soon as it gets dark - but Louis decided to take a gamble.

If the Southern Army really had an ambush, there was no reason why they wouldn't be dispatched in such a hasty situation, and if not...

Eagle Point City is in his pocket!

Looking at the defensive position of Eagle Point City covered by artillery fire and gunpowder smoke, Louis slowly raised the saber in his hand; after receiving the order, the flag officer immediately erected an extremely conspicuous red flag on the position.

Accompanied by the passionate sound of bugles, a column hidden behind a hillside on the left wing of the Guards Corps immediately began to form a team; in an instant, thousands of figures clad in gold and red appeared on the top of the hill!

“All hands on deck—forward!”

Accompanied by the fanatical shouts of the officers, the four thousand Iser Elf columns turned horizontally, like a sweeping frenzy, covering most of the top of the mountain, and launched an attack on the rightmost artillery fort of the southern legion under the hill.

Overwhelming and unstoppable!

It wasn't until the enemy appeared within the field of vision that the defenders in the fort were horrified to find that the enemy had circled to their right wing at some point and was attacking them with rifles as they were entangled by the enemy forces in front of them.

Even if the Guards Corps cannot spread out the line as thinly and loosely as the Clovis infantry, and can open up one and a half times the frontal width of others, facing the crushing strength disadvantage, the Southern Army's frontal strength is still not enough. Width.

The disadvantage of forcibly widening the front is that the wings are extremely weak!

Discovering this, the fort defenders responded immediately. Unable to mobilize the twelve-pounder cannon, they turned all their light field artillery and fired rapidly at the enemy troops attacking from the flanks, trying their best to deter their attacks. Speed, buying time for reserves and fortress artillery.

But that's the problem - the front is too wide, so the Southern Army can't actually draw many reserves, and once Ludwig turns the fortress artillery to the right, not to mention how long the artillery interval will be in the middle, the front will have to bear the burden The pressure will be doubled immediately!

Louis Bernard's offensive was too cautious. He was obviously crazy about wanting to fight Anson Bach, and he obviously had an absolutely superior force... but he had to fight steadily step by step, and would rather waste a little more time than take risks.

This is not only inconsistent with Ludwig's memory, but also has a relatively obvious gap with Roman's previous report; as if overnight, this Imperial knight has completely changed.

Who made him become like this?

Ludwig was puzzled.

Screaming solid bombs continued to fall on the front of the Iser army sweeping down the hillside. The explosion of fire and the screams of their companions interrupted the formation, but it did not hinder their progress at all. Under the choking smoke and fire, Advance rapidly.

When the last shot ended and they were still nearly 100 meters away from the artillery base, the Yser elves did not advance to shoot slowly as usual, or enter into a shooting phase with the enemy; without firing a single shot, the four thousand elves of the line were fired. Roaring and launching a charge.

Although unexpected, the fort defenders responded quickly.

"Grenadier company!"

Roman, who was in front of the trench, roared with a stern expression. The four reserve companies immediately stood up, their right-hand rifles hit the ground with a "bang!" and entered the battle preparation state.

The troops guarding the rightmost position of the Southern Army were none other than Roman's infantry regiment; of course, Ludwig could only rest assured that this important position, which was related to whether the defense line could hold up, was handed over to the people he trusted most.

"Flanks spread out, two horizontal lines - everyone with bayonets fixed, ready to engage the enemy!"

Seeing the enemy's almost crazy charging momentum, Roman's face still showed no panic at all, as calm as if he was ready to die at any time.

"Ready-shoot!"

The neat volleys were deafening, and the charging Iser army was stunned. The soldiers at the front fell in rows, and the already disorderly formation was even more scattered.

Although the enemy was already in sight, the experienced grenadiers still maintained a steady rhythm, firing and loading according to the orders unhurriedly; this Ludwig's absolute confidants and elites were all equipped with Leo The Bode rifle is so high that it can maintain a stable rate of fire of five rounds per minute.

Gunshots kept ringing out, and the golden-red wave kept approaching... Eighty meters, fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty...

"Grenadier Company—" Roman's face turned cold, his face twisted, and he roared behind him:

"Grenade!"

"boom--!!!!"

Before the first grenade fell, the Yser elves had already rushed to the position and pounced on the grenadiers in the trench desperately.

The moment of engagement is the beginning of the decisive battle!

The fanatical Yser elves braved the death fire of grenades and rushed through the defense line composed of fences and trenches with rifles with bayonets in their hands. The roar even covered up the roar of guns.

The trenches and parapets built purely to delay time are not worth mentioning given the absolute numerical advantage. The terrain around Eagle Point City also prevents the Southern Army from digging the outer trenches too deep... after spending almost all of the front row. After the army was wiped out, the leading troops of four thousand Ysel elves poured into the Grenadier Regiment's defensive position from the flanks, and collided hard with the thin two rows.

But unlike what they imagined, this extremely thin defense line was not instantly shattered in front of their charge; on the contrary, less than 500 grenadiers blocked the first round of the offensive, and withdrew the troops who poured into the trenches. The Elf Line soldiers strangled together.

The Ysel elves have the advantage in strength and are commanding a commanding position, but the grenadiers guarding the forts only need to rely on the light artillery in the position and defend a short section of trenches and parapets to block enemies several times their size.

So the two sides fought in this narrow and rugged mountainous area, which could accommodate at most one or two infantry regiments, under the light of exploding artillery shells, in the smoke of gunpowder that made it impossible to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy; when the artillery shells were used up, they served as shooting bunkers. When the bullets are gone, pick up the bayonet; when the blade is broken, pick up the rifle butt; when the rifle is gone, use your feet, fists and teeth...

"puff!"

The sharp blade penetrated the elf knight's mouth. The eyes of the corpse with the enlarged mouth widened, and in the dilated pupils, it was as if a child was looking at Lieutenant Colonel Roman who suddenly changed into a different person in front of him.

The gushing plasma splashed on Roman's face, and his originally ferocious face was now distorted as if it were a hyena that chooses people to eat.

He didn't even look at the two elf soldiers who were attacking from behind. He raised his blade and rushed straight towards an officer who was raising his hand and shouting. The other party's frightened eyes had clearly seen his figure, but there was no time to dodge the officer who was already shouting. The tip of the knife was in close contact with his chest.

The crisp sound of bone cracking was accompanied by the sound of muscles being torn apart. The howling Elf Flag Officer watched helplessly as he was torn apart by the saber in the opponent's hand from bottom to top; a red light flashed from his pupils, and he was shocked. I found that I couldn't even shout out.

"Plop!"

The Elf Flag Officer who was stabbed through the neck was nailed to the ground by the falling blade. Roman, who was kneeling on one knee, arched his back and raised his right hand that was holding the revolver without any warning, letting the two elves who were about to rush forward The private was stunned.

"Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire rang out and two more bodies appeared on the ground.

Gently licking the enemy's blood at the corner of his mouth, Roman's body suddenly began to tremble slightly, a low roar came from his throat, and his frowning brows seemed to be desperately restraining some inhuman impulse.

In the melee, although the grenadiers with high morale were still holding on to their positions, no matter how hard these ordinary people with no blood strength resisted, they would still inevitably be penetrated by the enemy in the face of enemies several times their size. , had to start shrinking our troops...

At this moment, Eagle Point City's artillery fire coverage finally shifted to the right wing of the position.

"boom--!!!!"

Accompanied by the familiar sound of explosions and parabolas across the sky, the gray "rain of death" fell on the heads of the Yser elves attacking from the flanks, tearing apart flesh and blood one after another like a storm.

The sudden bombardment interrupted the originally ferocious offensive. The Yser elves who had not yet seen the enemy only had time to scream in agony before the lead bullets falling from the sky pierced their skulls, tore open their chests, and tore off their necks and limbs. Limbs...

The shattered flesh and blood shocked the soldiers in the rear row, and at the same time blocked their way to continue the attack, temporarily interrupting the offensive of the follow-up troops, and giving the defenders in the fort a moment of breathing space.

Not only did this brief moment allow the grenadiers in the fort to take the opportunity to defeat the Yser elves who rushed into the position, Ludwig in Eagle Point City also seized this gap and sent out a skirmisher group as a reserve, immediately Rapid reinforcements were sent to the right flank.

Yes, the right-wing position can fall. Facing 40,000 Yser elves, the southern army's troops cannot hold such a wide defense line. It is only a matter of time before a hole is torn open. Ludwig has already made preparations to build up the south side of the fortress. The preparation of the new defense line will steadily delay the offensive of the Guards Corps.

But not now!

"Command the guard camp, everyone is in position." Ludwig suddenly turned his head and looked at the guards behind him:

"Only one skirmisher regiment is not enough. I am afraid that Louis Bernard is also mobilizing troops to reinforce the right wing - let the commander of the guard battalion hold my flag for reinforcements. I will provide as much artillery support as possible. Be sure to hold the right wing for me!"

"B-but Commander..."

"But what, didn't you hear the order?!"

The guard who was frightened by Ludwig's roar opened his mouth. He was stunned in place without saying a word. He just raised his right hand and pointed to the right wing.

Um?

Ludwig, who had an ugly face, turned around and looked in the direction pointed by the guard in confusion; the next second, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"The Yisel Elf...Louis Bernard...he, how did he..."

"Why is he retreating?!"